A blog to discuss my many wargaming projects.
How many, you ask?
Too many.
And I'm adding more
all the time.

Wednesday, December 10, 2014

Warriors Brave: A Toy Soldier Christmas Tale - Part 1

One of my favorite Christmas books I have in my collection is this vintage childrens' story about toy soldiers coming to life on Christmas Eve. Though there is no publication date, it is inscribed on the title page, "Roger Hill 1926". It is a small volume, measuring only 5" x 4.5".
It is interesting to note that the artist had some knowledge of the toy soldiers he drew, as many of the poses pictured are very similar to a variety of semi-round lead soldiers that were available at the time. These were often cast by small manufacturers, or Mom & Pop dime store owners, from commercially available German molds, and sold individually or in boxed sets.
I will run the story in three parts, with the first part today, and the next two over the following two weeks.
So, on with the tale of the Warriors Brave:
(You can click any photo to view it larger.)

11 comments:

Based on the font used and especially the illustrations, I had the feeling that this book was published before the 1920s, unless its a reprint. So, you got me investigating. This is just an educated guess, but from a hit I got on a used bookstore site, it was probably published around 1910, Jamieson was likely the author as well as the illustrator.

About Me

I've been a gamer since my high school days in the 70's. I'm married to Jennifer, and reside in Maryland. I am co-author, along with Buck Surdu, of "GASLIGHT" and several of its supplements, and "Look, Sarge, No Charts: WWII", and "LSNC: ACW". I also wrote the "Thunder & Plunder"; half of our Pirate rules, "Blood & Swash"
I am a founding member of the HAWKs wargames club.